Thursday, October 12, 2017

Trump attacks Obamacare with executive order

Experts say it will upend health coverage marketplaces. From the Washington Post:

Critics, who include state insurance commissioners, most of the health-insurance industry and mainstream policy specialists, predict that a proliferation of such health plans will have damaging ripple effects: driving up costs for consumers with serious medical conditions and prompting more insurers to flee the law’s marketplaces. Part of Trump’s action, they say, will spark court challenges over its legality.

The Arkansas Democratic Party was ready with a blast:

“You know, one of the definitions of insanity is to try the same thing over and over again and expect a different result,” said Democratic Party Chairman Michael John Gray. "The Republican’s multiple attempts in Congress to dismantle the Affordable Care Act failed because the American people stood up and told them it was a bad idea. And now, the President is undercutting the will of the American people by sabotaging a law that gives 300,000 Arkansans affordable health insurance."

The executive order would allow consumers to buy short-term policies, which don't have to comply with the ACA's protections for those with pre-existing conditions. Health care experts have said that the executive order would cause costs to rise significantly for the sick and the insurance market to further destabilize.

“Our goal here should be lowering premiums and costs for all Arkansans — but not at the expense of the sick. I’ve heard nothing from our congressional delegation about how they plan to achieve this while protecting the 300,000 currently covered as a result of medicaid expansion," Gray said. “Their allegiance is supposed to be to folks of Arkansas — not their political bosses in Washington. A huge percentage of Arkansans rely on the ACA to get health care. Arkansas has a plan that works for us right now under ‘Arkansas Works,’ and I call on our Congressional Delegation to protect the program by opposing the President’s overreaching executive order.”

Wesley Clark, the retired NATO commander from Little Rock, writes critically today in the Washington Post about Donald Trump as commander in chief.

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Slideshows

Arkansas vs Ole Miss at War Memorial stadium in Little Rock, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. After leading for much of the game, Arkansas lost 37-33 when Ole Miss scored the game winning Touchdown with less that 2 minutes left.